Lessons on Burden Bearing

Why do we carry burdens? Why do we hurt so badly and feel so helpless? Why do we get weary and our defenses lower? What causes the heaviness felt so real in the chest it’s as though bricks were piled there? What brings on the shortness of breath? Why, why does God command us to share in such feelings of hopelessness and deprivation? Why is it a command, not a suggestion or an aside? If I’m not mistaken, it says somewhere in Galatians, “Bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.” How is that the deciding factor, the crowning point of following and completing the law?

I suppose it teaches us to get messy. That life is messy. To roll up our sleeves and get involved in one another’s lives. I guess you could say it’s a part of being that “living sacrifice” Paul talks about in Romans 12. The step beyond the dos and don’ts, it’s the action that replaces the inaction. It’s stepping outside of our comfort zone—we can control how we obey the law, but we can’t control people, their emotions, and relationships. It’s a messy affair but we are called to it, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” Life is unpredictable. We could laugh one minute and be on the verge of tears the next. Someone could be a Christian school headmaster and football coach at one stage in life and then be diagnosed with cancer of the lymph nodes and kidney before the age of 40. Some one else could be hysterically amused by the simpleness of Blue Bugs, sweet tarts, and blue ink early on in life only to come to an incomprehensible impasse with life in general at a later time.

Such is life after the fall. We laugh, we cry. We are commanded to share in both because that is how Christ has chosen to incarnate the message of the gospel—through the practical, tangible mercy of bearing one another’s burdens. We are not meant to be alone no matter how badly we may wish to retreat to a corner and hide.

Just Under 12!

In just under 12 hours we will be at the start of the Uttermost endeavor! Here's a look at some of the things we'll pass along the various routes of the Shelby Park:

Uttermost Airs on BOTT Radio!

Click here to listen to the radio spot from Nashville's BOTT Radio!

More Things Worth Doing

Eat, sleep, breathe, repeat. That seems to be what I'm doing with the Uttermost now that it's October. It's not that I'm expressly busy with the planning and coordinating at this point so much as wracking my brain to figure out who else I can tell, where else I can post a flyer, what other creative things I can come up with to get people to GIVE MONEY! Especially on-line. I was so excited about getting an on-line giving feature up on the UTTERMOSTrace.com website, and you know how many people have donated...TWO! Come on folks! I love y'all with all my heart, but we can do better than this.

This week begins mega planning for me on the financial end of things. I'm in charge of keeping track of the financial donations that come in from around the country to help support organizations such as Blood:Water Mission and African Leadership, digging fresh wells and nurturing both the physical and spiritual needs of our indigenous brethren in Africa. Money to keep Mercy Children’s Clinic a thriving and vital part of our community, enabling them to give medical attention to a wide variety of children with varying needs and means. And then there's Servant Group International--what better way to bring the peace of the gospel to the Middle East, minister to our persecuted brethren, and raise up the next generation of Iraqi politicians, business men, and spiritual leaders than from within the country itself. I want desperately to be so busy this month that it takes me weeks to calculate how much money we've raised for these great missions groups!

These are exciting times. These ministries are doing exciting things. Won't you join us in encouraging them in their Kingdom calling?


Go to UTTERMOSTrace.com to find out more!

Things Worth Doing

“Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love.” —Reinhold Niebuhr

Chapter 3 of a 4 Chapter Book

This weekend I'm in North Carolina. The land of Cheerwine, Cherry Lemon Sun Drop, Bojangles, and Pet Chocolate Milk! Those are the things I remember best about this state that nurtured me through childhood. Along with Ronnie's Wings, K & W Cafeteria, Elizabeth's Pizza, K & W Cafeteria, Eddie's Pizza, K & W Cafeteria, Mayflower Seafood and, lest I forget, K & W Cafeteria--along with all these places came a sense of place that was indiscernable to me as a small child, incomprehendable as a jurnior higher, and unacknowledged as a high schooler. Who knew that food could root a person like that? Who knew that those chicken wings, those house special calzones, the bowls of strawberries, mac 'n cheese, and occasionally fried mushrooms, followed by strawberry pie for dessert--who knew that would come to mean so much after I've gone?

To Sunshine

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine. —Anthony J. D'Angelo

S4theD: Every Season by Nichole Nordeman

Every evening sky, an invitation
To trace the patterned stars
And early in July, a celebration
For freedom that is ours
And I notice You
In children’s games
In those who watch them from the shade
Every drop of sun is full of fun and wonder
You are summer

And even when the trees have just surrendered
To the harvest time
Forfeiting their leaves in late September
And sending us inside
Still I notice You when change begins
And I am braced for colder winds
I will offer thanks for what has been and was to come
You are autumn

And everything in time and under heaven
Finally falls asleep
Wrapped in blankets white, all creation
Shivers underneath
And still I notice you
When branches crack
And in my breath on frosted glass
Even now in death, You open doors for life to enter
You are winter

And everything that’s new has bravely surfaced
Teaching us to breathe
What was frozen through is newly purposed
Turning all things green
So it is with You
And how You make me new
With every season’s change
And so it will be
As You are re-creating me
Summer, autumn, winter, spring

Realizations of Redemption

The last few weeks have been more than subtle reminders that we live in a fallen world. Yet they have been no less than dramatic reminders of the sovereignty of God over every stage and facet of life...

Special places on the body that can be poked to bring a person back to consciousness. The right person who knew where that special place on the body that can be poked to bring a person back to consciousness. Impulses in one part of the brain rather than another just so doctors could call something "pseudo-seizure" rather than "seizure" simply because it was doing no real harm neurologically. Strategic placement of a tree to break what could have been a fatal fall. A friend to rescue and give the breathe of life. A stranger to donate the blood of life.

And yet I've noticed a particular radiance from the stars on the evenings that weren't cloudy. Mars was never discovered yet always sought night after night. I love it when there is a criss-cross pattern on freshly mown grass. Crickets have a more lovely sound when listening from a hammock. Standing in the rain often captures the smell of fresh showers better than a special formula of Tide.

The dramatic and emotional, the frightening and the unexpected seems to always drive us back to the mundane and believable, the comforting and constant. We are driven away from the superficial stabilities we attempt to place around us because when we begin to really take note of those truly constant things around us we realize our efforts are ultimately vain when working with toothpicks and duct tape.

So when the sun plays peek-a-boo over an obstacle in your life, half-casting a tree in radiant light, half in the chill of shadows, remember that joy cometh in the morning. And with each new morning brings a fresh start, and with each fresh start there are sure to be no less than resplendent reminders that God is at work in all things.

Blah, Blog, Blah

In this particular stage of my life I find that I’m focusing more on new kinds of music rather than say new books, foods, or shampoos. I love music that tells you what it wants to tell you on multiple levels. I love fresh turns of phrase. I love creative melodies. I love the appropriate use of both violin and piano in pop music. I suppose the reason I haven’t been blogging about the music I’m listening to is because I have yet to find an effective, practical, and tangible way to post MP3 files.

I love music! But I feel that to post lyrics and make comments about the songs I share would be a poor justification for the whole of the musical art form. Because, despite popular opinion, I sincerely believe that means and message should compliment each other in a seamless tapestry of imaginative innovation. They should not contradict each other.

Today I discovered what I labeled at first as “Christian music that I might actually listen to”. I haven’t listened to the entirety of the newly released CD by Leeland entitled Sound of Melodies, but I already like this young group because it appears at first glance that they are giving a good go at putting some substance into Christian music. There seems to be more here than simply making sure you have a chorus, three verses, a bridge, a tag, and rhyming endings—there is actual artistry. Am I saying it’s a brilliant masterpiece? No. After all the lead singer, song and music writer, Leeland Mooring, is only 18. But what I can say is that it is well envisioned, well written, well rounded—in short, it’s extremely refreshing. It’s nice to know there is something to hope for and follow in the Christian music industry.